Automatic home monitoring devices for blood pressure measurements at the arm, wrist, or finger have become available in ever increasing numbers of designs in recent years.
Home monitors are recommended for use by persons who wish to take either periodic or sporadic measurements in order to keep track of the general state of their health especially persons in various groups that are considered potential candidates for developing high blood pressure such as overweight persons, smokers, and pregnant women. Home monitors are useful to take a series of measurements over a period of time in order to establish a data base for later diagnosis, to monitor drug dosages in order to optimize treatment for controlling high blood pressure, in emergency situations, in cases when it is simply not possible or convenient to visit a doctor or clinic, etc. For many people home monitoring is considered to be the most accurate method for blood pressure measurement because at home these people are relaxed whereas they tend to become nervous in clinical environments causing their blood pressure to rise.
Despite the fact that sales of automatic home monitoring devices increase yearly, only a very small percentage of the persons in the groups mentioned above who should be periodically monitoring their blood pressure actually own such a device. The reasons for this situation are many but the principal ones are cost, reliability over time, and the psychological one that most people normally consider themselves to be healthy and therefore refrain from purchasing medical monitoring devices since such a purchase would be considered to be an admission that perhaps all is not well.
Automatic monitoring devices for blood pressure measurement usually contain the following elements: inflatable cuff; electro-pneumatic unit, mainly comprising a pump and an electric valve to inflate and deflate the cuff; transducer; electronic circuit; digital readout; and power supply, either batteries or connection to mains supply. All of these elements, especially the pump, the electric valve, and the significant power requirements of the pump combine to make the majority of automatic monitors expensive for the average potential user, the relative expense being all the more pronounced for a device that is normally not used frequently. Additionally, inclusion of all of the above elements results in relatively bulky devices and limits the ability of manufacturers to reduce the size of monitors to pocket-size dimensions which can be conveniently carried out of the house on business trips, vacations, etc.
It is therefore a purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic monitoring device for blood pressure measurement that avoids the above-mentioned drawbacks of presently available devices designed for a similar purpose, specifically it is a purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic monitoring device that does not comprise an electro-pneumatic unit to inflate and deflate a cuff.
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic monitoring device for blood pressure measurement that is significantly less expensive than presently available devices.
It is yet another purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic monitoring device for blood pressure measurement that is significantly smaller than presently available devices.
It is still another purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic monitoring device for blood pressure measurement that is small enough to be carried in the pocket.
It is yet a further purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic monitoring device for blood pressure measurement that can be discarded after a single or a limited number of uses.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic monitoring device for blood pressure measurement that is extremely reliable over its intended life span.
It is a still further purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic monitoring device for blood pressure measurement that is easy to operate.
Further purposes and advantages of this invention will appear as the description proceeds.